FP3: Hamilton stays ahead of Ferrari
In the final practice ahead of qualifying, Lewis Hamilton continued to be the fastest man, making it a clean sweep and a solid start of his season. Sebastian Vettel seems to become the closest competitor as Ferrari were second and third quickest.
Hamilton posted the fastest lap of the weekend so far with a 1m22.292s, already 6 tenths faster than pole from last year.
Behind the top three, both Haas cars were surprisingly quick and were leading the midfield battle, even though their advantage to the cars behind is small, and certainly no guarantee for success later in the weekend.
Pierre Gasly was the fastest Red Bull this morning, still topping Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas. Kvyat was closely behind, again demonstrating the solid pace that seems to be present in the Toro Rosso STR14. He left Verstappen and both Renaults behind.
Both Williams were again at the very back, more than a second apart from Norris who was 18th.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:22.292 | - | 12 |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:22.556 | +0.264s | 12 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:22.749 | +0.457s | 12 |
| 4 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:23.112 | +0.820s | 17 |
| 5 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:23.334 | +1.042s | 15 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:23.367 | +1.075s | 17 |
| 7 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:23.422 | +1.130s | 17 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:23.442 | +1.150s | 16 |
| 9 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:23.481 | +1.189s | 19 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:23.695 | +1.403s | 14 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:23.737 | +1.445s | 15 |
| 12 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:23.831 | +1.539s | 16 |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 1:24.049 | +1.757s | 21 |
| 14 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point Bwt Mercedes | 1:24.082 | +1.790s | 18 |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:24.328 | +2.036s | 15 |
| 16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point Bwt Mercedes | 1:24.345 | +2.053s | 16 |
| 17 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:24.402 | +2.110s | 18 |
| 18 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:24.568 | +2.276s | 16 |
| 19 | 63 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 1:25.944 | +3.652s | 14 |
| 20 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams Mercedes | 1:26.589 | +4.297s | 16 |
